It’s our first week of the year, so we wanted to check out a few things to look forward to in 2022. “Newsweek” posted a big list of 22 exciting things to expect this year. Here are the highlights . . .
1. Less covid, we hope. No one knows if the pandemic will officially end this year, but most experts think things will at least be better in 2022. The new Paxlovid antiviral pill could save a lot of lives too.
2. 5G goes mainstream. All the big carriers are rolling it out nationwide this year. It won’t just let people download full movies in seconds. It’ll also allow A.I. to be a part of our daily lives. Some experts think it could “usher in the next industrial revolution.”
3. The Winter Olympics from Beijing. And you won’t have to wait long. They start February 4th, and run through February 20th.
4. The first images from the new James Webb telescope that launched on Christmas Day. It should reach its final destination a million miles from Earth in about three weeks. We might not get the first pictures back until sometime this summer though.
5. There’s a new Girl Scout cookie coming. Cookie season starts in the next few weeks, and there’s a type this year called Adventurefuls. They’re a brownie-style cookie with caramel-flavored cream.
6. Lots of big movies, including a bunch of sequels. The new “Top Gun” movie lands in May, along with “Legally Blonde 3”. Also, a new “Thor” movie in July . . . “Hocus Pocus 2” this fall . . . and a second “Avatar” movie might finally come out this winter.
7. The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June. That’s 70 YEARS on the throne. She’ll be the first British monarch to do it. Basically, they’ll throw a big party where a bunch of soldiers and horses prance around. And half the world will watch.
8. New gadgets. There’s a rumor that Apple is working on a new augmented reality product called Apple Glasses, and could unveil them in late 2022. They’re also working on a virtual reality headset that could hit stores this summer.
9. The World Cup. If you’re a soccer fan, it kicks off on November 21st. And it’s happening in the Middle East for the first time. Qatar is hosting.
10. Meetings in the Metaverse. Work meetings from home might eventually happen in virtual reality instead of on Zoom. And we might get our first glimpse of it this year when Microsoft puts out its beta version of “Mesh for Teams.”